397
by sunsetblossom
Summary: A response to the latest Bleach manga chapter. -SPOILERS!-


_You've said too much, Aizen._

And all of a sudden, Isshin Kurosaki magically appears before his son in all his magnificence.

Wait – _magnificence_?

The immature, useless old son of a fart?

Yeah, that guy.

And all Ichigo could do was stare. If Isshin had turned around at that moment, he could have had a hernia laughing.

_Dad..._

_Dad?_

_Dad!_

* * *

_How the hell could I describe this feeling?_

_Distrust?_

_Betrayal?_

_Like my life was just a joke?_

_Dad knows. He knew. He knew everything all along. I mean, he definitely knew Aizen - and well enough to just call him 'Aizen'. _

_But what hurts is that he never told _me_. If he knew, he knows about Soul Society, and about everything I did there. _

_What does he think about me after all that?_

_How much more does he know?_Ichigo couldn't conceal his complete and utter shock.

* * *

"Dad...?" The one word trailed on, failing to completely leave Ichigo's mouth. Despite the mood of the moment, Isshin jovially turned around and gave his son his well-known cheezy smile and glomp.

"My boy!" Isshin cooed.

"What the _hell_ - " Due to years of training, Ichigo quickly brought his left elbow up in defense, effectively knocking his father out of the way.

"You've grown so _much!" _Isshin continued, not fazed by the attack from his son. "Defeating bad guys, protecting everybody, saving the world!"

_How much does he know?_

"You've got a lot of explaining to do!" Ichigo nearly screamed, flailing Tensa Zangetsu around. Isshin gave another smile and quickly sobered up.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo," Isshin said, taking a step back. "It wasn't time to tell you yet."

"And _now's_ the time?" Ichigo shot back. "In the middle of a war?"

"Not quite," Isshin said simply, with a hint of sadness. Before Ichigo could respond, Isshin turned to face Aizen Sosuke.

"Well," Aizen began. "I see you've decided to show up, Kurosaki Isshin."

"I can't leave all the fun for my son, now can I?" Isshin said happily.

"How long have you had your powers returned to you?" Aizen asked. "Was it since you defeated Grand Fisher?"

Ichigo's eyes snapped up to Aizen, and then to his father. _Grand Fisher...? Dad... killed him? When?!_

"Eh... Yup! About that time," Isshin responded. By this time, Ichigo couldn't take it anymore.

"Dad!"

"Wha~t?" Isshin sang back. Turning, he saw Ichigo with his head bowed, his body slack and without energy. Isshin lowered his stance when he saw his son so distressed.

"Who the hell are you?" The question came slowly. It pretty much summed up everything, and that was what Ichigo needed to know – everything.

"We~ll, besides your father?" Isshin continued. "See this?" And he turned slightly right so that his left shoulder was facing Ichigo. He reached over with his right hand and fluttered the garment there.

"A... Captain's cloak?" Ichigo muttered. That made Ichigo's brain go on high speed. _Wait a minute. I thought every captain position was filled! _And with that, he thought through the captains, remembering to ignore Captains 3, 5, and 9.

"Ichigo, don't think too hard," Isshin chuckled. "It was a long time ago."

"How long ago?"

"Ah..." Isshin shrugged casually. "Around Urahara's time."

"And how long ago was that?" Ichigo then realized that he never actually knew when Yoruichi and Urahara were captains.

"You don't wanna know," Isshin laughed out loud.

"More than one hundred years ago," Aizen supplied, crossing his arms. Ichigo scowled.

"Great. Then how fucking old can I be?" Ichigo spat. _Has my _entire_ life been a joke?_

"Don't let him get to you, Ichigo," Isshin warned. "You are yourself, and you are sixteen years old." Ichigo took a deep breath – and continued to ignore Aizen.

"All this time," Ichigo muttered. "Then what about Yuzu and Karin? What about _mom_? Did you lie and hide from them too?"

"Yuzu and Karin are young. They don't need to know," Isshin defended his daughters. "But as for your mother..."

_What the hell... Mom!_

"Your mother's a story for another day," Isshin said jovially, cleverly avoiding the question. "Look, Ichigo. Despite what you're thinking, your life has not been a joke. There were reasons why we did what we did. And it revolved around you," he said, pointing a finger at his son. Ichigo sighed.

_What the hell is going on? _

_Dad...?_

_Who the hell his he...?_

_And... Who the hell am I?_

_I'm so fuckin' confused._

_And finding out that Aizen has been _stalking_ me since I was born..._ Ichigo shivered. _My life is like a game to that bastard!_

"Dad?" Ichigo broke the silence, once again in his distraught position. "One... more question..."

"Yes, my son?" Isshin sang back.

"Before you jumped in," Ichigo said quietly. "Aizen was going to say something. About me."

"You want to know what he was going to say," Isshin finished. He sighed. The reason why Isshin interrupted at the time he did was because he didn't want Ichigo to know.

"Yeah. He said I was special. Since I was born… A soul reaper. And that he'd been watching me since then," Ichigo said with another shiver, glaring up at Aizen. _Stalker. _

"You'll find out soon enough," Isshin responded, turning back to face the bad guy. "Now's not the time, Ichigo. Right now, our focus should be on that man over there," he said, pointing his sword at Aizen. Ichigo looked between his father and his enemy and sighed.

"You're right," Ichigo said, turning to stand next to his father. Isshin smiled once again.

"Here we go!"

* * *

_Even though I have to focus on the fight, how can I?_

_After finding out my own father is a soul reaper – and a captain at that!_

_I asked him questions, but he never gave me a true response. I still don't know who he is. He was a captain – but of what squad? _

_What about mom? Was she a soul reaper too? Then... what happened that day six years ago?_

_And what the hell was that about me being _special_? What made me stand out so that Aizen would watch me? _

_One of the Noble families? I only know about the Kuchikis and the Shihoins, and there are four... But then why hasn't anyone told me about it? If _'Kurosaki' _was one of the Four Noble Families, it should be well known, right? I should have heard about it, right?_

_Royal family? No. That's a joke. Definitely not. _

_But then... _

_How else could I have so much spiritual power? Enough to take out Byakuya, who is definitely more experienced than me..._

_How else could no one have known? The royal family was kept under wraps. The Gotei 13 doesn't know anything about their royalty; they were just figureheads. So how would any soul reaper in the Gotei 13 know whether the royal family's name was _'Kurosaki'_ or not?_

_And Aizen was after the Ouin – the King's Key. If he was after me at the same time... How else could I connect to that? _

_Royal family..._

_What if that's true? _


End file.
